Abstract
Purpose: The acute care environment poses challenges to Doctor of Physical Therapy (DPT) students, faculty, and clinicians. Academic preparation is important for success in acute care clinical education experiences. The Core Competencies for Entry-Level Practice in Acute Care Physical Therapy (CCACPT) defines entry-level performance expectations. The purpose of this study was to describe the use of the CCACPT to enhance teaching and assess student confidence in acute care competencies before and after a medical surgical course. Methods: DPT students from three cohorts were recruited. We developed a 52-item survey from the CCACPT. Each item asked about the confidence for a specific acute care task. Educational activities were intentionally enhanced to address the content areas with the lowest confidence identified in the pre-survey of students. Reflective writing assignments and the post-survey were used to assess the influence of teaching enhancements on student confidence in acute care competencies. Results: The total response rate (n=146) was 85.1%. Students rated six items with the least confidence on the pre-survey that were consistent across cohorts. All six items’ scores were significantly improved on the post-survey. Eight themes were identified using qualitative analysis of the reflective assignments. Conclusion: Applying the survey created from the CCACPT prior to teaching the course may help guide the content areas in need of enhancement in order to improve student confidence needed for successful acute care clinical education experiences.
Recommended Citation
Smith, Leslie M; Trojanowski, Suzanne; Yorke, Amy; and Rucker, Erin
(2023)
"Using Professional Core Competencies to Guide and Enhance Course Content for Doctor of Physical Therapy Students,"
Health Professions Education: Vol. 9:
Iss.
2, Article 4.
Available at:
https://hpe.researchcommons.org/journal/vol9/iss2/4
